Public Administration Circular : 14/2022

My Number : EST-6/03/LEA/3162(1)
Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs,
Provincial Councils and Local Government
Independence Square
Colombo 07.

22.06.2022

Secretaries of Ministries
Chief Secretaries of Provinces
Heads of Departments

Granting leave with no pay to be spent in or out of the Island to Public

Officers without causing any prejudice to the seniority and pension

It has been decided at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 13.06.2022 to grant
leave with no pay to be spent in/out of Sri Lanka to public officers under special provisions,
deviating from the provisions existing in the Establishments Code regarding the granting of
leave with no pay, until further notice.

02. Public officers are able to obtain leave with no pay to be spent out of Sri Lanka
subjected to a total period of five (05) years at the maximum, so as to be able to make it
applicable to the seniority and pension of the officer for the following objectives.

a) To leave abroad

This leave is granted to an officer to develop his/her skills or to engage in an

employment after going abroad, and it is not required to submit particulars to the
effect that the officer is engaged in an employment during the early period abroad but
to take action to obtain approval for leave with no-pay following proper procedures.

b) To engage in an employment in a foreign institution

For this purpose, the officer should take action to obtain approval for leave with
no-pay to be spent out of Sri Lanka in the proper manner submitting the particulars of
the employment, in which the officer expects to engage in a foreign country during
the period of leave with no-pay and relevant other particulars to the authority for
approving leave.

03. In addition, public officers below the age of 35 are able to obtain leave with no pay to
be spent in or out of Sri Lanka subject to a maximum of one year to develop their IT skills,
knowledge of English or any other language / languages, or to complete a vocational training
programme at a recognized institution. For this purpose, the officer should take action to
obtain approval for leave with no-pay to be spent in or out of Sri Lanka in the proper manner,
submitting the relevant particulars to the authority for approving leave.
04. The following provisions shall be applicable to the officers who obtain leave as
mentioned in 02 0r 03 above.

a) The period of leave with no-pay obtained by the officers in the above manner
shall be considered a period of service for the purpose of calculating their
seniority and pension until further notice.

b) The officers who left the Island under the provisions of the Establishments Code
before the introduction of these provisions and have not returned and are on
approved leave period, the officers who are subjected to the period of obligatory
service as a result of obtaining leave with or without pay, the officers who have
completed the obligatory period of service and the officers under probation
period who do not belong to the Executive Grade, are able to obtain leave as per
‘a’ above. Officers belonging to the Executive Grade should have been
confirmed in their service to obtain leave as per (a) above.

c) On reporting for duty at the end of the period of leave, the officers, who are
subjected to the period of obligatory service for the purpose of granting leave as
per ‘b’ above, are required to complete the period of obligatory service relevant
to the first period of obligatory service, as already agreed, and further no
obligatory period of service shall be prescribed for the period of leave with no
pay in lieu of the leave obtained as per these new provisions.

d) The period of probation can be extended up to a maximum of 03 years after

reporting back for duty, as per the provisions of the Procedural Rules of the
Public Services Commission, until the officers in probation period satisfy the
requirements, which are to be satisfied within the period of probation.

e) The officers, who are already on leave to be spent out of the Island as per the
provisions of the Establishments Code, may make a request in order to extend
the leave obtained with no pay for the objectives in 02 or 03 above from the
authority for approving leave. The service period after the approval for such
leave can be counted as a service period for the calculation of their seniority and
pension. Further, leave can be granted under this provision for a maximum
period of 05 years for officers, who are on no-pay leave and have been subjected
to an obligatory period of service and have completed the obligatory period of
service due to obtaining leave with no pay, including the said period of leave.
The maximum period of leave that can be obtained by an officer under the
provisions of 02 and 03 above shall be limited to 05 years.

f) The officers, who obtain leave with no pay to be spent in Sri Lanka, should
make a suitable arrangement for the monthly settlement of the installments and
the interest of their property loans communicating with the relevant bank and
the authority for approving leave should make an arrangement for the recovery
of other loans either as a lump sum amount or installments. An officer who goes
 abroad under the provisions of 02 or 03 above should settle all the loans he has
obtained before his leave is approved. It will be considered to discuss with the
Treasury the possibility of introducing an alternative methodology for this and
to make the necessary provisions in the future.

g) Action should be taken to remit in foreign currency the contribution to the

Widows’ /Widowers’ and Orphans’ Pension fund to the Director General of
Pensions, which is applicable to the basic salary entitled to the day before the
date of approval for leave, where the officer is out of the Island. Officers who
obtain leave with no pay to be spent in Sri Lanka should pay the relevant
contribution in Sri Lankan currency within that period.

h) In case where an office is already abroad on the approved period of leave with
or without pay and expects further to obtain leave with no pay to be spent out of
the Island under the conditions stipulated herewith, an opportunity can be
granted to such officer for obtaining proper approval for the leave without
returning to the country. For this purpose, the officer should submit a written
request to the Secretary of the relevant Ministry.

i) The promotion should be granted to an officer, who satisfies all other

qualifications prescribed during the period of leave with no pay except the
service period required for grade promotion, so as to be effective from the date
of satisfying qualifications on reporting for duty at the end of the period of leave
with no pay and it should be prescribed to complete the active period of service
prescribed under Service Minutes/ Schemes of Recruitments for promotions
granted based on the vacancies.

j) An officer, against whom initial measures have been taken either by the
disciplinary authority or head of the institution in relation to a disciplinary
action, should not be granted leave without pay under these provisions.

k) No compulsory period of service shall be prescribed for leave with no pay

granted under these provisions. When the officers, who go abroad, apply for
leave under No. 07 of Form General 126, they should clearly state under the
provisions of which section of this Circular they are applying for leave. In
addition, the officer should enter into an Agreement mentioned herein as
Annex 01, with the authority for approving leave.

l) The Heads of Departments/ Institutions should maintain a report consists of the

particulars of the officers, to whom leave is granted under these provisions, and
further the particulars of the relevant officers should be submitted monthly to
their appointing authorities.

m) The Secretary of the Ministry shall approve leave under these provisions. A
Standing Committee chaired by an Additional Secretary of the Ministry and
consisting of three other senior officers of the Ministry should be appointed to
 assist the Secretary in this regard and its recommendation should be sought. In
the case of an officer of a department belonging to a Ministry, the Head of the
relevant Department shall act as an alternative member of this Committee.
Leave should be approved only after the confirmation by the leave approving
authority that granting of leave to public officers under this system does not
impede the proper and efficient functioning of the relevant public institutions.
Each Ministry/ Department should take action to formulate their own formal
procedures regarding the granting of leave with no pay to officers in the above
manner.

n) Instructions shall be issued by the Ministry of Finance with regard to making

these provisions applicable to the officers serving in the Public Enterprises
functioning with funds of the state.

o) Every officer who goes abroad as per the provisions of this circular is required
to formally remit money in the following manner through the Sri Lankan
banking system to a Non-Resident Foreign Currency Account (NRFC) opened
in his or her own name.

(i) Officers of the Primary Service Category - Monthly USD 100

(ii) Officers of the Secondary Service Category - Monthly USD 200
(iii) Officers of the Tertiary Service Category - Monthly USD 300
(iv) Officers of the Executive Service Category - Monthly USD 500

When the officer is employed abroad, the above amount or 25% of the salary
earned from the employment can be remitted. A concessionary period of two
months from the date of departure shall be given for the remittance and
remittances must be made from the third month onwards.

p) The seniority of an officer, who obtained leave with no pay as per these
provisions, should be calculated after reporting for duty, and further, this service
period should be made applicable for the calculation of pension at the time of
retirement in the proper manner after reporting for duty. The period of leave
with no pay of the officers ,who do not remit money to the country properly as
mentioned under “o” above or violate one or more of the conditions of the
agreement referred to in “k” above, shall not be calculated for the purpose of
determining their seniority and pension.

05. The provisions of this circular shall be effective from 22.06.2022.

Sgd/ M.M.P.K. Mayadunne

Secretary
Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs,
Provincial Councils and Local Government
 Annexure 01
Agreement

Granting leave with no-pay to be spent out of Sri Lanka/ within the country without causing
any prejudice to the seniority or pension

This Agreement is made on.......................................of………… in year…...................………………between

the Secretary……………………………………(Name) of ………………………………………….(Name of
the Ministry) of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka herein sometimes referred to as “first party”
and the person hereinafter referred to as Secretary of ……………………………..(Name of the Ministry) of the
one part and the following person/ officer herein referred to as “second party”.

Whereas leave with no pay to be spent out of Sri Lanka/ within the country is hereby approved by the afore-
mentioned first party for …………………………………..(full name of the officer) residing at
……………………………………(permanent address of the officer), who holds the post of
………………………………..at the ……………………………….(Ministry/Department) referred to as second
party without causing any prejudice to the seniority and pension of the public officers subjected to the following
conditions and obligations.

The said conditions and obligations are as follows;

01) The officer should make sure to follow the proper procedure when obtaining leave with no-pay to be
spent out of Sri Lanka/ within the country.
02) The leave to be spent out of Sri Lanka/within the country obtained by the officer shall be from
(…............) to (…..............) and the maximum period of such leave shall be (01/05)* years. (If the no
pay leave is in accordance with para 03 of Public Administration Circular 14/2022, the period shall be
limited for a maximum period of 01 year and if it is in accordance with para 05 of the said Circular, the
maximum period shall be 05 years)
*delete the word inappropriate
03) The said period of leave to be spent out of Sri Lanka obtained by the officer is from (……………) to
(……………..) and the said period of leave should be limited to a maximum of (05/01) years.
04) The officer should make sure to follow the provisions of Public Administration Circular No:
…………………..dated …………….., which includes the above mentioned provisions, as required
when getting the leave to be spent out of Sri Lanka/ within the country approved.
05) Failure to fulfill the provisions of the above circular shall result in loss of entitlement to seniority and
pension of the officer.

Breach of the above - mentioned conditions and obligations shall be an offence and the officer shall be subjected
to any disciplinary and legal action taken by the relevant authorities.

In witness whereof ……………………........…..(Name) Secretary of the Ministry of …………...........…………,

the said first party and …………………….....................…..(full name of the officer), the second party have
signed on this…….. day of ………………

1) First party ....................................... ( Signature)

....................................... (N.I.C. Number)
....................................... (Official Stamp)

2) Second party ....................................... ( Signature)

....................................... (N.I.C. Number)

Witnesses
1) ........................................................(Signature)
..........................................................(Name) ............................(N.I.C. Number)
..........................................................(Address)

2) ........................................................(Signature)
..........................................................(Name) ............................(N.I.C. Number)
..........................................................(Address)